Eisenia fetida
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| Eisenia fetida (Savigny, 1826) [1] |
Eisenia fetida, known under various common names, including redworms, brandling worms and red wiggler worms, is a species of earthworm adapted to the environment of decaying organic material. It thrives in rotting vegetation, compost, and manure. It is rarely found in soil, and instead, like Lumbricus rubellus, prefers conditions where other worms cannot survive.
They are encountered most often as fishing bait. Also, because they can speed the process of converting compost into soil, they are used in areas where they occur naturally. In addition, they are commonly used to process kitchen waste into worm castings. This process is known as vermiculture, with an end result of vermicompost.
When introduced into soils where they are not endemic, they will damage ecosystems by changing soil composition. These areas include soils of sandy loam, pine barrens, and possibly others. Such possible causes of contamination can be careless fishermen, trees or soil trucked in from other areas, transportation of potted plants, etc.
[edit] References
- ^ Eisenia fetida. Fauna Europaea (2004).
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